Bowling beamersRoy Gilchrist was probably the fastest bowler to emerge from Jamaica before Michael Holding - and he mixed up his express deliveries and bumpers with the odd very nasty high full-toss - the now-banned "beamer". But not long after taking 6 for 55 against India in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1958-59, Gilchrist unleashed one beamer too many - at an old Cambridge team-mate of his captain, Gerry Alexander. He was sent home from the tour, and never played for West Indies again.

Going fishing
A hard-hitting allrounder seemingly made for the one-day game, and who latterly made a mark in Test cricket, Queenslander Andrew Symonds often sailed close to the wind: in England in 2005 he was dropped after a night out, which wouldn't have made so many headlines if Australia hadn't promptly lost to Bangladesh. Then, in August 2008, he achieved the unlikely feat of being sent home from a series at home - Bangladesh (again) were about to provide the opposition in a one-day series in the "top end" (Darwin and Cairns) of Australia, when Symonds missed a team meeting as he had gone fishing. Protests that he'd left the hotel before the meeting was called fell on deaf ears. He was welcomed back that time, but fell out with the Australian hierarchy for good a year later.

Chucked out for chucking?
The Pakistan offspinner Haseeb Ahsan, who died recently, started the 1962 tour of England with 5 for 53 in the first match in Worcester. But he didn't feature much after that, and eventually returned home: officially with an injured foot, unofficially suspected of throwing (he had already been called in a Test in 1960-61). Some thought Haseeb simmered about his treatment in England: he became an administrator, proved a combative manager on the 1987 tour of the UK, and the following winter was widely thought to be behind the policy of appointing controversial umpires for the 1987-88 home series against England, including Shakoor Rana, whose ugly spat with Mike Gatting made worldwide headlines and led to a day's play going missing. Scyld Berry, later to edit Wisden, wrote a tour book in which Haseeb was described as the "Grand Vizier" pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Scoring too slowlyKen Barrington fell foul of the England selectors' clarion call for "brighter cricket", after a painstaking 137 in 437 minutes against New Zealand at Edgbaston in May 1965. Barrington was dropped for one Test as a disciplinary measure, returned for the third one, at Headingley, and smacked 163 in less than a day. The establishment hadn't seemed quite so bothered the previous year, when Barrington had amassed 256 against Australia in 11.5 hours.

Scoring too fast
Between Kapil Dev's Test debut in 1978-79 and his final match in 1993-94, India played 132 Test matches... and the great allrounder himself appeared in 131 of them. The one he missed was against England in Calcutta in 1984-85. In the previous match, in Delhi, Kapil had come in with India less than 100 ahead in their second innings, hit his second ball for six and holed out off the next one. England won by eight wickets: "I was dumped for one Test," wrote Kapil, "in order to prove some obscure point about discipline."

Scoring a hundred too late
Back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney were a bit of a rarity back in 1972-73, and the Australian selectors thought they'd save time by choosing their team for the second game against Pakistan in the middle of the first one. John Benaud - Richie's younger brother - was dumped after two low scores. But he still had a second innings in that Melbourne match... and smacked 142, which obliged the selectors to choose him for the West Indian tour that soon followed.

Contravening conduct obligations
The England Lions have just completed a forgettable tour of Australia, losing seven of their eight games (the other one was abandoned). To make matters worse, the Durham allrounder Ben Stokes and Kent fast bowler Matt Coles were sent home in February, after "contravening their conduct obligations" once too often.

Hitting team-mate with batShoaib Akhtar was sent home just ahead of the inaugural World Twenty20, in South Africa in September 2007, after a dressing-room argument escalated; he apparently hit his new-ball partner Mohammad Asif with a bat. But Shoaib said he hadn't meant to hit Asif: it was Shahid Afridi he was aiming for. "I got agitated when Afridi used bad words about my family," he said, "and [in the ensuing argument] Asif was accidentally struck on the thigh."

Not getting on with the captainLala Amarnath, scorer of India's first Test century, fell foul of the autocratic Maharajkumar of Vizianagram during the 1936 tour of England. "Vizzy" was captain on account of his princely background, but was a very modest player (his six Test innings brought him 33 runs). It was a chaotic tour: 22 different players appeared in first-class matches, and one player supposedly got a Test cap as a thank you from Vizzy for insulting CK Nayudu (seen as a captaincy rival) over breakfast. In the middle of all this Amarnath displeased his captain somehow, and was sent home for indiscipline. The manager apparently told him he'd been seen chasing after women: Amarnath replied that he "had come to England to play cricket, which I like much more than women". He later captained India himself.

Playing golf
Early in his career Geoff Boycott was, like Ken Barrington, dropped for slow scoring (after making 246 not out against India at Headingley in 1967). Much later, Boycott's England career ended when he left the 1981-82 tour of India not long after passing the then-record for most Test runs. He went off the field unwell during the Calcutta Test, but attempted to recuperate by playing a few holes of golf. The other players were outraged: told to apologise, Boycott apparently skewered a note to the dressing-room table with a corkscrew. Soon after this he returned home and - after joining a "rebel" tour of South Africa - never played for England again.

Double-faultingJeff Thomson took 33 wickets in the first four and a half Tests of the 1974-75 Ashes series: a series of shell-shocked England batsmen had visited casualty departments Australia-wide, and 42-year-old Colin Cowdrey was summoned from a quiet winter at home to take on Thommo and his high-speed partner Dennis Lillee. With a match and a half to go, Thomson looked certain to smash the Australian record for wickets in an Ashes series (at the time, Clarrie Grimmett's 36). But then, on the rest day of the fifth Test, he wrenched his shoulder playing tennis in Adelaide. "I felt a terrible pain in my shoulder," he said. "I dropped the racket and went straight to a specialist, who diagnosed a pulled tendon and torn muscles. Mind you, it made me feel a bit better when I realised that I served an ace." Thomson played no further part in the series, and after Lillee also pulled up injured in the sixth Test, England won by an innings to pull back to 1-4 overall.

Steven Lynch is the editor of the Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2013. Ask Steven is now on Facebook

The Larwood incident after the famous Bodyline series also has to be one of the most ridiculous and unfair ones. Harold Larwood was asked to take the blame for the entire Bodyline fiasco and apologize to the Australians. Larwood refused, claiming rightfully that he was only following his captain, Douglas Jardine's instructions on the field, and therefore it was unfair to put the entire blame on his shoulders. The MCC did not relent and Larwood had to pay for his refusal with his cricketing career. Douglas Jardine, on the other hand, continued playing for and captaining England.

POSTED BY
MysterySpin
on | March 19, 2013, 11:19 GMT

The often forgotten bowling legend Sydney Frances Barnes played four of the five test matches in England's tour of South Africa in 1913/14. During the four matches in the series he took 49 wickets (which remains the record for most wickets taken in a test series of any length - closest to it is Jim Laker's 46 wickets in the five tests he played in the 1956 Ashes). Had Barnes played in the fifth match of the series he could have got well over 50 wickets in a test series.

Why didn't he play in the fifth test? He refused to play because MCC refused to pay for his wife's ticket to visit him on tour.

POSTED BY
on | March 19, 2013, 11:02 GMT

Jimmy Adams missed the opening test in South Africa in 1998-99 as he had cut the tendon of his left thumb while trying to butter an overcrusty bread roll in the BA flight from London to Joburg. West Indies lost by 4 wickets in what proved to be the only competitive test of the series. The series went to South Africa 5-0.

POSTED BY
ravirrs
on | March 19, 2013, 3:48 GMT

Hey - What about dropping of Nayan Mongia and Manoj Prabhakar in early 90's for not scoring briskly against WI in a home series, though the later had scored a century !!!!!

POSTED BY
japdb
on | March 19, 2013, 3:11 GMT

How about Syd Barnes - selected to play v WI but vetoed by the administration on the basis they didn't like him very much. Australia was very weak in batting with Harvey and Morris out of form and other 2 places in top 6 averaging <30. Only Hasset and Miller batting capably.

POSTED BY
ranpath
on | March 19, 2013, 0:07 GMT

I don't know if this qualifies : I seem to remember a WI batsman, playing for the second XI ( A side ) asked to leave the tour because of a death in his family. (This player's career was riddled with indisciplinary behaviour in its early years). A few years later, on a different tour, he again asked to leave on the grounds of the death of the same relative !!!!! For some reason, everytime I recall this incident, the name of Runako Morton comes to mind......

POSTED BY
CarnivalOfSorts
on | March 18, 2013, 23:03 GMT

Kevin Pietersen for texting the opposition?! Surely has to make the list for most ridiculous

POSTED BY
bobagorof
on | March 18, 2013, 22:30 GMT

I think it was Brad Hodge who once missed a match because he wrenched his back putting on his trousers

POSTED BY
MrKricket
on | March 18, 2013, 22:25 GMT

Wasn't there a Pakistani batsman in the early 70s who dropped out of a Test match in the 72-23 tour of Australia with a "bad back" after Dennis Lillee threatened to "knock his block off"? I can't recall the name.

Not cricket but swimming - a well-known one in Australia was Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas who famously dislocated her shoulder turning off her alarm clock! Missed the world titles in Barcelona as a result.

POSTED BY
on | March 19, 2013, 21:58 GMT

Kevin Pietersen and Siddhu misses out this list

POSTED BY
gnat9
on | March 19, 2013, 11:31 GMT

The Larwood incident after the famous Bodyline series also has to be one of the most ridiculous and unfair ones. Harold Larwood was asked to take the blame for the entire Bodyline fiasco and apologize to the Australians. Larwood refused, claiming rightfully that he was only following his captain, Douglas Jardine's instructions on the field, and therefore it was unfair to put the entire blame on his shoulders. The MCC did not relent and Larwood had to pay for his refusal with his cricketing career. Douglas Jardine, on the other hand, continued playing for and captaining England.

POSTED BY
MysterySpin
on | March 19, 2013, 11:19 GMT

The often forgotten bowling legend Sydney Frances Barnes played four of the five test matches in England's tour of South Africa in 1913/14. During the four matches in the series he took 49 wickets (which remains the record for most wickets taken in a test series of any length - closest to it is Jim Laker's 46 wickets in the five tests he played in the 1956 Ashes). Had Barnes played in the fifth match of the series he could have got well over 50 wickets in a test series.

Why didn't he play in the fifth test? He refused to play because MCC refused to pay for his wife's ticket to visit him on tour.

POSTED BY
on | March 19, 2013, 11:02 GMT

Jimmy Adams missed the opening test in South Africa in 1998-99 as he had cut the tendon of his left thumb while trying to butter an overcrusty bread roll in the BA flight from London to Joburg. West Indies lost by 4 wickets in what proved to be the only competitive test of the series. The series went to South Africa 5-0.

POSTED BY
ravirrs
on | March 19, 2013, 3:48 GMT

Hey - What about dropping of Nayan Mongia and Manoj Prabhakar in early 90's for not scoring briskly against WI in a home series, though the later had scored a century !!!!!

POSTED BY
japdb
on | March 19, 2013, 3:11 GMT

How about Syd Barnes - selected to play v WI but vetoed by the administration on the basis they didn't like him very much. Australia was very weak in batting with Harvey and Morris out of form and other 2 places in top 6 averaging <30. Only Hasset and Miller batting capably.

POSTED BY
ranpath
on | March 19, 2013, 0:07 GMT

I don't know if this qualifies : I seem to remember a WI batsman, playing for the second XI ( A side ) asked to leave the tour because of a death in his family. (This player's career was riddled with indisciplinary behaviour in its early years). A few years later, on a different tour, he again asked to leave on the grounds of the death of the same relative !!!!! For some reason, everytime I recall this incident, the name of Runako Morton comes to mind......

POSTED BY
CarnivalOfSorts
on | March 18, 2013, 23:03 GMT

Kevin Pietersen for texting the opposition?! Surely has to make the list for most ridiculous

POSTED BY
bobagorof
on | March 18, 2013, 22:30 GMT

I think it was Brad Hodge who once missed a match because he wrenched his back putting on his trousers

POSTED BY
MrKricket
on | March 18, 2013, 22:25 GMT

Wasn't there a Pakistani batsman in the early 70s who dropped out of a Test match in the 72-23 tour of Australia with a "bad back" after Dennis Lillee threatened to "knock his block off"? I can't recall the name.

Not cricket but swimming - a well-known one in Australia was Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas who famously dislocated her shoulder turning off her alarm clock! Missed the world titles in Barcelona as a result.

POSTED BY
BoonBoom
on | March 18, 2013, 22:06 GMT

Well.... U mentioned shakoor rana ugly spat..... I think Gatting was equally ugly... Why only single out shakoor rana? After all it was Gatting who changed fielder's position during bowler's stride hence started the whole episode!!

POSTED BY
CricketPissek
on | March 18, 2013, 22:04 GMT

LOL! Had forgotten about Jayasuriya and the shampoo incident :-D

POSTED BY
sarangsrk
on | March 18, 2013, 19:08 GMT

Mcgrath missed the famous Edgebaston test of 2005 ashes because he tripped over a ball in the warm ups on the first morning of the match.
Jayasuriya broke his collar bone trying to fetch a shampoo bottle in his shower and missed the next match. God only knows with no hair, why on earth he chose to use shampoo...:)

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 15:56 GMT

Sidhu went home on his own accord in 1996 India tour of England, after falling out with Azharuddin. Pringle and a pen/back. Gatting smashing a glass door. My favourite is Gower left out of India tour in 92/93 because he was too old - Gatting, Emburey, Gooch went!

POSTED BY
Advin
on | March 18, 2013, 15:27 GMT

Inzamam missed the Calcutta test against India after he hit his head against the team bus on the morning of the match !

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 14:12 GMT

Jimmy Adams , Cut his hand with a bread knife.....

POSTED BY
ProdigyA
on | March 18, 2013, 13:25 GMT

Shoaib's justification - I was trying to hit Afridi and hit Asif by mistake. LOL, as if that would have saved him from getting kicked out.

POSTED BY
jackthelad
on | March 18, 2013, 13:11 GMT

Kapil Dev was dropped to prove some point about SELF-discipline - and, of course, it worked.

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 12:16 GMT

Should we not mention Rohit Sharma here. Selected in the XI to play, injured himself on the morning of his debut test match and its more than a year since, and he hasn't blessed the Test match field!

How about an opposite situation - in 1974-75 against the West Indies, Venkatraghavan was brought into the playing XI and made captain for the Delhi Test in lieu of an injured Pataudi and was promptly dropped from the team after the Test!

POSTED BY
captaincool
on | March 18, 2013, 9:24 GMT

Can I have a list of players who had to leave in the middle of test match without getting injured and miss the rest of the match?

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 9:13 GMT

@guptahitesh4u - That's the point, these are MORE people getting dropped for bizarre reasons. They are the entire reason this article is created, if you read just below the article title...

POSTED BY
BinduKumar
on | March 18, 2013, 8:57 GMT

what about dropping Jason Gillespie after he scored an epic 201 not out!

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 8:05 GMT

I'm not going to join the brigade who demand the inclusion of their favourites in apparent ignorance of what XI means - but I am slightly surprised not to see Ted Pooley's name

POSTED BY
Baddabing
on | March 18, 2013, 8:03 GMT

I seem to recall Bruce Reid hurting his back and missing most of the tour in the Caribbean in 1991 because the seats in the plane on the way to a match didn't have enough leg room and he had to sit awkwardly

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 7:04 GMT

Or the George Gunn story in which he put an unopened letter in his pocket, and when he opened it months later he found it was an invitation to tour Australia with MCC (as touring England sides were then known)?

POSTED BY
stromy009
on | March 18, 2013, 6:44 GMT

Add Navjot Sidhu who walked out of the 96 England tour after being dropped from the first test...

POSTED BY
Jonathan_E
on | March 18, 2013, 6:23 GMT

Chris Lewis and his sunstroke?

POSTED BY
ermanish
on | March 18, 2013, 6:23 GMT

How about Nawa of Pataudi Snr who was dropped because he was against the BodyLine Bowling.

POSTED BY
guptahitesh4u
on | March 18, 2013, 5:47 GMT

Please update the list with Patto, watto, khwaja and Jhonson missing the 3rd test against India because of failure to complete the homework

POSTED BY
rishivaca
on | March 18, 2013, 5:27 GMT

How about the Tiger Moth incident when David Gower was dropped?

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 4:41 GMT

What about Gavaskar missing Kolkata test against Pak in 1987 after being pelted with Orange peels in 1983 (after loss to WI)

No featured comments at the moment.

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 4:41 GMT

What about Gavaskar missing Kolkata test against Pak in 1987 after being pelted with Orange peels in 1983 (after loss to WI)

POSTED BY
rishivaca
on | March 18, 2013, 5:27 GMT

How about the Tiger Moth incident when David Gower was dropped?

POSTED BY
guptahitesh4u
on | March 18, 2013, 5:47 GMT

Please update the list with Patto, watto, khwaja and Jhonson missing the 3rd test against India because of failure to complete the homework

POSTED BY
ermanish
on | March 18, 2013, 6:23 GMT

How about Nawa of Pataudi Snr who was dropped because he was against the BodyLine Bowling.

POSTED BY
Jonathan_E
on | March 18, 2013, 6:23 GMT

Chris Lewis and his sunstroke?

POSTED BY
stromy009
on | March 18, 2013, 6:44 GMT

Add Navjot Sidhu who walked out of the 96 England tour after being dropped from the first test...

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 7:04 GMT

Or the George Gunn story in which he put an unopened letter in his pocket, and when he opened it months later he found it was an invitation to tour Australia with MCC (as touring England sides were then known)?

POSTED BY
Baddabing
on | March 18, 2013, 8:03 GMT

I seem to recall Bruce Reid hurting his back and missing most of the tour in the Caribbean in 1991 because the seats in the plane on the way to a match didn't have enough leg room and he had to sit awkwardly

POSTED BY
on | March 18, 2013, 8:05 GMT

I'm not going to join the brigade who demand the inclusion of their favourites in apparent ignorance of what XI means - but I am slightly surprised not to see Ted Pooley's name

POSTED BY
BinduKumar
on | March 18, 2013, 8:57 GMT

what about dropping Jason Gillespie after he scored an epic 201 not out!